Thursday, February 11, 2016

It might be surprising to some that the Greek Catholics have a lot to say about this conference between the Pope of Rome and the Patriarch of Moscow (ranging from fearful anxiety to thoughtful analyses to making fun of a Russian hierarch's English). The difference for them is that, unlike many Catholics, Greek Catholics live (some might say squat) in Orthodoxy's backyard. Any change in the relationship of the Catholic and Orthodox Churches has a significant effect on their daily lives. The below is the beginning of a very long article on the subject entitled "As pope and Russian patriarch meet, Ukraine fears a ‘shaky’ Vatican."

(Crux) In much of the world, Friday’s historic meeting between Pope Francis and Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia in Havana, Cuba, will be hailed as a breakthrough. Attitudes are more mixed, however, in Ukraine, long the front line of tensions between Catholics and the Russian Orthodox.

There, the 5-million-strong Greek Catholic Church has suffered terribly for its loyalty to Rome, constituting the world’s largest underground religious body during the Soviet era, and it’s also a leader in civil resistance to the current Russian invasion of eastern Ukraine.

In this essay commissioned by Crux, the Rev. Andriy Chirovsky, a Greek Catholic archpriest at Saint Paul University in Ottawa, Canada, who also serves as editor-in-chief of LOGOS, a journal of Eastern Christian studies, discusses the summit.

5 comments:

The Unia and its banderofascist ideology are history. In our lifetime we will witness the abolition of the religious counterfeit of Unia, the end of the Uniate Paraguay "nationality" known as "Ukrainian" and the triumph of RUSSKY Mir, with a pope in Rome pleading to be able to hang on to the coat tails of Russia, beseaching her Christian mercy. Cossacks will water their horses in the fountains of Rome and garrison the chancery of a papacy returning to Orthodoxy.

Uniates Wil be presented with a choice 1). Repentance and return to Orthodoxy OR 2). Papal rite papism with a papacy blessing RUSSKY Mir and returning to Orthodoxy.

And "Ukrainians" will be faced with the restoration of history where with education, they will return to historic ethnic understandings as being either Russians, Ruthenians, Red Ruthenians, Black Ruthenians, White Ruthenians, Carpatho/Ugro Rusins, Novorossians or Poles.

The Uniates better worry. They have no future. And the Ukraine will go the way of the American frontier in 1900.

What a fascinatingly insightful article. As soon as I heard the sudden announcement of the meeting today it occurred to me that Russia is seeming, for lack of a better term, desperate. I pray that this article is correct and that our most holy primates will not allow the Ukraine situation to undermine the success of the upcoming synod.

The below is a huge blow to the idea of a united, canonical Orthodox Church in America. When ROCOR declared that they didn't want to be ...

"The World is trying the experiment of attempting to form a civilized but non-Christian mentality. The experiment will fail; but we must be very patient in awaiting its collapse; meanwhile redeeming the time: so that the Faith may be preserved alive through the dark ages before us; to renew and rebuild civilization, and save the World from suicide."